Willie Nelson, Annie Lennox and Carole King have been handed honorary doctor of music degrees for their lengthy careers. The trio received the honours from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday (11May13), and the former Eurythmics star stepped up to deliver the commencement address at the Agganis Arena.
Lennox told the audience, "Consider this... wherever you think you're heading right now might turn out to take a completely different path. What looks like an ending might actually be the start of a brand new beginning.
"Wherever and however we find ourselves, what a privilege it is to enrich our lives through music: the incredible universal language of the soul. Enter it wholeheartedly, make it yours to share with the world in the very best way you can."
All three singers took to the stage during the ceremony, and country star Kris Kristofferson presented his pal Nelson with his doctorate.
Previous honourees include Aretha Franklin, Loretta Lynn, Billy Joel and David Bowie.

It is an upsetting ordeal when loving unions descend to contentious battles, when spouses devolve to enemies. After a 10-year relationship, it seems that this is what has become of David Tutera and his domestic partner Ryan Jurica. Following Wednesday's announcement of their separation, Jurica unleashed accusations of sex addiction toward the My Fair Wedding host, stirring the bile of the highly publicized rhetoric between the two parties. As a result, Tutera has released a response to these claims, tossing a few coarse words back in the other direction:
"The allegations against me are baseless and untrue and I will fight vigorously to defend my reputation in the court of law as well as the court of public opinion. I believe them to be fabrications of a desperate individual in order to gain a legal advantage in our separation. I am saddened by these developments; I am angered by the lies; and I am committed to moving beyond this painful moment to focus on my professional commitments and the upcoming birth of my children."
A sorry state of affairs, and hopefully one that can wrap up with civility. Unfortunately, due to the custody battle in which the men are entrenched over their unborn children, we anticipate a bit more fire and brimstone in the couple's future.
Reporting by Lindsey DiMattina
Follow Michael Arbeiter on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter
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Kimberly Peirce, Chloë Moretz, and Julianne Moore on the set of Carrie
After losing out on a 2013 Oscar nomination in the Best Director category, Ben Affleck and his film Argo became the season's biggest talking point. After losing out on a 2013 Oscar nomination in the Best Director category, Kathryn Bigelow and her film Zero Dark Thirty faded out of the picture.
Already battling wishy-washy political arguments that threatened to shift the spotlight away from the film, Bigelow's docudrama thriller was all but knocked out of Oscar consideration when the critically acclaimed director failed to sit alongside 2012's contenders. The snub was a reminder of a sad fact that remains a talking point each year: In the 85-year history of the Academy Awards, only four women have been nominated for the "Best Director" Oscar. And only of them won: Bigelow, for 2009's The Hurt Locker.
There's an imbalance of female and male directors represented in the Hollywood mainstream. It's a point argued year after year, yet it's a statistic that never seems to change. According to a study by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, School of Theatre, Television and Film, 18 percent of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2012 were women. And only 9 percent of all directors working on those films were women. While that's a 4 percent bump up from 2011, the percentage of women directors working in 2012 was the same as in 1998.
In 2013, three women are slated to direct studio-driven, wide-released feature films: Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (May 10), directed by Tina Gordon Chism, Carrie (Oct. 18), directed by Kimberly Peirce, and Disney's animated feature Frozen (Nov. 27), co-directed by Jennifer Lee alongside Chris Buck. A few more will sprout from between the blockbusters into limited releases: Sally Potter's Ginger &amp; Rosa (March 15), Sofia Copolla's Bling Ring (June 14), Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist (April 26), Maggie Carey's The To Do List (Aug. 16), Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves (Sept. 20), Susanne Bier's Serena (Sept. 27), Diablo Cody's Paradise, and the Soska sisters' American Mary. Women are making movies, but considering the sheer number of films in theaters from year to year, they're not making enough movies — and they're rarely making them with the support of Hollywood.
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Chism, screenwriter of 2002's Drumline and 2006's ATL, makes her directorial debut this spring with Peeples, but breaking through as a female force in Hollywood required hard bargaining. "I've always been attracted to writer/directors and Nancy Meyers was a huge inspiration for me in her work," Chism says. "So, as a writer, I've used my script as leverage to get in the room to plead my case to direct it. If I didn't have that script, I don't think I would have been given the opportunity."
With Peeples — which stars Craig Robinson and Kerry Washington — ready for release, Chism already has a follow-up in place, a thriller set up at Sony. Despite having a feature under her belt, Chism says the process was the same: more teeth-pulling, more clinging to her script, more proving herself capable.
The writer/director recalls her first studio meeting, during which Fox gave her a number of different script ideas, none of which worked for the budding filmmaker. "We talked about all kinds of ideas and I hated all of the things they pitched me," Chism says. "I thought, 'This is a nightmare.' In that meeting, they told me they were toying around with a movie about a band. At the time, it was about a white kid and a black kid who can't read. And I come from the South and my mind went to historically black colleges. Thank God. And I remember, they were like, 'There are all-black colleges?'"
"I'm not sure if I'll have to do that forever," Chism says. "I think it has to do with power, basically, and in this industry, the writer doesn't hold the largest bit of power. So it's more palatable for people to deal with women as writers." Hollywood does appear to be more receptive to hiring females in that role; Lauzen's study reveals that women account for 15 percent of the writers working on the top 250 films of 2012.
Like Chism, Jennifer Lee also comes from a writing background. Before being recruited by Disney Animation head honcho John Lasseter to co-direct Frozen, Lee had sold two screenplays: an adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights and an original script being developed at Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way production company. She was brought into the Disney fold by her Phil Johnston, a friend from Columbia University's film school who recruited her to write on Wreck-It Ralph. After meeting weekly for years in order to "push each other as writers," Johnston asked Lee if she would be willing to move to Los Angeles on a week's notice to take over Wreck-It's script, which he had initially developed years before. The success of the 2012 Oscar nominee — and the nurturing environment of a long-gestating animated film — landed her the job co-directing Frozen.
Concept art from Jennifer Lee's Frozen
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Unlike live-action's homogeneous roster of filmmakers, animation has traditionally welcomed female directors. In 2012, Brenda Chapman became the first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Animated Feature for Brave (sharing it with Mark Andrews, who took over as director halfway through production). Vicky Jenson (Shark Tale) nearly took home the award in 2001 for co-directing Shrek — in the category's first year, only the producers were awarded with the gold statue. In the grand scheme of Hollywood, Jennifer Yuh Nelson possessed the most important honor: Her Dreamworks Animation film, Kung Fu Panda 2, is the highest-grossing female-helmed movie of all time, with a whopping worldwide gross of $665.7 million.
In terms of creativity, box office numbers are inconsequential. But in Hollywood, they're a calling card and a record-setting number like Nelson's Kung Fu Panda 2 gross goes a long way. Which explains why women filmmakers are climbing uphill to get projects with larger budgets off the ground. Running down the list of the highest-grossing directors of all time (based on BoxOfficeMojo.com's director filmography totals), we don't find a woman until No. 60: Lana Wachowski, director of The Matrix trilogy, who first entered the industry as a man. Further down at No. 81 is Betty Thomas, one of the few women to have shaped a career out of directing modest blockbusters. Including The Brady Bunch Movie, Doctor Dolittle, 28 Days, and the recent Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Thomas' films have collected nearly $563.3 million.
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Chloë Moretz in Carrie
For women to stake a claim in box office history, they must be given the opportunity to direct blockbusters, the type of genre filmmaking narrowly aimed at adolescent boys. A 2011 study released by the Motion Picture Association of America cites that the gender composition of moviegoers was balanced, about 51 percent women, 49 percent men, with the 25 - 39 age demographic representing the largest portion of the audience, around 28 percent. Yet most of the major studio tentpoles are male-driven. Out of 45 movies based on comic books released between 2003 and 2013, only one of them was directed by a woman: Lexi Alexander's 2008 film Punisher: War Zone.
The lack of women represented in genre movies makes Kimberly Peirce's horror remake Carrie an event in itself. Like many female directors actively working in the film industry, Peirce is hesitant to make gender divide a talking point when discussing her new adaptation of the Stephen King classic. The Boys Don't Cry and Stop-Loss director wants to be seen as simply that — a director. Still, she believes women do add perspective to genre stories, and in the case of Carrie, perspectives that echo themes laid down by the book's author.
"What I love about King was, he was writing about a fear of the period," Peirce says. The director recalls King's notorious experience of working as a janitor and discovering a bloody tampon, a terrifying event that Peirce revels in. "Women may have fear about their tampons and their menstrual cycles, but you know what? They’ve got to deal with it on a monthly basis. It’s a fear that you know in a way that this guy may not know. So it took on epic proportions. So it is really interesting that it was a man’s fear that birthed [the story], and then I get to [view it] through a different tunnel."
Peirce acknowledges that Brian De Palma, director of the acclaimed 1976 version of Carrie, knows "a lot about women." Peirce also finds her approach to the material unique, because it's informed from personal experiences. "The truth is, I have a mother and I have had wars with my mother [and] I know what those wars feel like," Peirce says. "I know what those feel like from my perspective, the claustrophobia in the female-female, mother-daughter relationship. I also know how snarky the girls can be. It doesn’t mean the men can’t be. Female terror is a very interesting terror. It’s relentless, it’s diffuse, it communicates."
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For her follow-up to Peeples, Chism made a point to pen a thriller with a strong female voice, and it's a challenge for her. According to the writer/director, Drumline, ATL, and Peeples all tested higher with men, and she sees that as the result of an ability to write strong male characters. With her next movie, she wants to challenge the pre-conceived notions of what a movie with strong female characters has to be about. "I think that the similarities that a lot of minorities have to face — whether it's a woman in business or African-American — sometimes the reaction is, 'I don't want to make it about me being a woman,'" Chism says. "But I've yet to find the formula to walking into a room and an executive not seeing both things when they see me."
Over the course of her career, she's well-aware of what an executive is looking for from her. "I [can] feel the expectations that, 'Oh, you're going to do a chick flick and that's going to diminish the numbers we do.' I'd say that's 100 percent the case."
Producer Gale Anne Hurd is one of the rarities, a female producer who, while never stepping into the director's chair, has helped both men and women bring sci-fi blockbusters, independent dramas, and hit TV shows to life. In 2013, Hurd launched another season of her hit horror show The Walking Dead and debuted the teen romance drama Very Good Girls at the Sundance Film Festival. And yet, even she doesn't see much of a home for women at the movie studios. "I think it speaks to the fact that independent film is where it's at, because there were more films than ever at Sundance directed by women," Hurd says. "And mainstream film has really taken a step backward in so many ways and one significant factor is that you don't find much diversity in the ranks of directors. Now that's changing a lot in television and I think some of the best work right now is on television. The strides that women are making as directors on television is more than compensating for the steps back in the ranks of major studio directors."
The latest from Jane Campion — another of the female quartet to have been nominated for the Best Director Oscar — is a prime example of Hurd's observation. Sundance Channel's upcoming series Top of the Lake, a deeply cinematic crime procedural, was written and directed by Campion. The series premiered in full at this year's Sundance — the first TV series to do so at the festival. Along with Campion's ambitious project, the festival also played host to a number of female-directed indies, including Lynn Shelton's Touchy Feely, Lake Bell's In a World…, Jerusha Hess' Austenland, and Stacie Passon’s Concussion. Thanks to a frenzy of distribution company purchasing, most are expected to arrive in theaters this year.
NEXT: Hollywood, Wake Up and Make a Change
Kerry Washington, Craig Robinson, and David Alan Grier in Tina Gordon Chism's Tyler Perry Presents Peeples
In the male-dominated world of directing, those with clout are the ones who can bring along sea change. The female voices are there, they just need to be cultivated and supported. Lee has not been working with Disney for long, but the animation process naturally helped her rise to the top. It promoted her organically. "Animation relies on a large team of people — story artists, visual development artists, animators, and a diverse production staff," Lee says. "And we don't just work together on one film and move on; I'm working with a lot of the same folks I worked with on Ralph. Working together for years, we really get to know each others' strengths and talents. The women get the chance to shine equally."
Chism's film recently swapped titles, shifting from We the Peeples to Tyler Perry Presents Peeples. After persisting to hold onto her romantic comedy and direct it herself, she was okay with the change. "They got the movie, they got the script. Leverage diminished."
Adding Perry to the marquee also works in her favor: With a built-in audience, a stamp of approval from the Madea mastermind is the cinematic version of "Oprah's Book Club." He also worked as Chsim's biggest supporter. "Tyler was very supportive," she says. "He just let me do my thing. He read it, he had his ideas, and then he said, 'You know what, I'm just going to let you go for it and I want to see what your voice would be, your take would be.' When he needed to block for me or support me, he did that. I have nothing but appreciation for him as a producer."
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Diablo Cody, who wrote the upcoming Evil Dead remake and is expected to have her own directorial debut, Paradise, arrive sometime this year, shares the frustration over the gender divide. She sums up her feelings with comment that may sound defeatist, but it's honest and steadfast: "It's been that way for a long time, so I'm just doing what I can."
Lee feels similarly, letting her work on Frozen and her collaboration with co-director Buck speak for itself. "We share a sense of storytelling that doesn't feel male or female. I think we were cast together because of our shared vision for Frozen, and because we work well together."
On the first day of shooting Peeples, Perry phoned Chism with words of wisdom. "He called and said, 'Put your head down and make a great movie. That's all anyone cares about. No one cares about anything else other than delivering a great movie. Have a great one, bye.'" From childhood, Chism was taught that "excellence in work is really the only barrier-breaking formula." The mantra pushed her each day on Peeples, even when the scenes were at their silliest. "At the end of the day, for me, whether I'm a female or male, there's a lot of investment, a lot on the line, and you have to make your day, make it good, and make a great film."
This year will see the release of three studio films directed by women — a minuscule number. Diversity doesn't have to be forced into the industry — hiring talented directors should always be the priority — but capable and creative female filmmakers are out there, waiting to be employed. They can take on any project, not just ones that boast demographics skewing towards their own gender. "I think a good director can do anything," Peirce says. "James Cameron was not an Avatar. Coppola was not a Godfather. You’re always looking to any character and figuring out where you want to take it."
Cody gives us a little hope for the future (or at least, this year): "Let's look at the positives, which is that the worst movies are dumped in the first quarter of the year. So maybe it means the women directed all the good ones."
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
Additional reporting by Michael Arbeiter and Kelsea Stahler
[Photo Credit: Screen Gems, Hollywood.com, Walt Disney Pictures, Screen Gems, Nicole Rivelli/Lionsgate]

We all have guilty pleasures. For some of us, it’s HGTV’s do-it-yourself home improvement shows. For others, it’s marathoning sitcoms like Arrested Development or Modern Family on online sites like Netflix from the comfort of our beds. And still for others, it’s the romantic entanglements found in old soap operas that keep us replaying them time after time. Well, earlier this year, Prospect Park’s The Online Network revealed that they would be rebooting two of our most loved soaps: All My Children and One Life to Live. And Wednesday, the network announced all of the cast members participating in both shows.
For All My Children, the following stars have been announced as members of the cast: Sal Stowers as Cassandra Foster, Eric Nelson as AJ Chandler, Denyse Tontz as Miranda Montgomery, Jordan Lane Price as Celia Fitzgerald, Ryan Bittle as JR Chandler, Eden Riegel as Bianca Montgomery, Cady McClain as Dixie Cooney, Ray MacDonnell as Dr. Joe Martin, David Canary as Adam Chandler, Heather Roop as Jane McIntyre, and Francesca James as Evelyn Johnson. Previously announced members include Darnell Williams as Jesse Hubbard, Debbi Morgan as Dr. Angela Hubbard, Vincent Irizarry as Dr. David Hayward, Lindsay Hartley as Cara Martin, Jordi Vilasuso as Griffin Castillo, Jill Larson as Opal Cortlandt, and Thorsten Kaye as Zach Slater.
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And this is who you can expect to see on One Life to Live: Robert Gorrie as Matthew Buchanan and Laura Harrier as Destiny Evans. These stars join the previously announced members (Erika Slezak as Victoria Lord Buchanan, Robin Strasser as Dorian Lord, Tuc Watkins as David Vickers, Robert S. Woods as Bo Buchanan, Kassie DePaiva as Blair Cramer, Jerry verDorn as Clint Buchanan, Florencia Lozano as Tea Delgado, Melissa Archer as Natalie Buchanan Banks, Hillary B. Smith as Nora Buchanan, Kelley Missal as Danielle Manning, Josh Kelly as Cutter Wentworth, and Andrew Trischitta as Jack Manning). Recurring actors include: Sean Ringgold as Shaun Evans, Shenaz Treasury as Rama Patel, and Nick Choksi as Vimal Patel.
New 30-minute episodes of both series will be launching each day of the week on Hulu.com, where content generally can be viewed for free. The episodes will also be available on iTunes.
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
[Photo Credit: ABC]
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What’s in a name? It’s a question that plagued The Bard, and one with which we still wrestle on idle Thursday afternoons. If you scan the local multiplex listings this weekend, you may wonder what’s with the name Parker. It seems such an innocuous label for a studio actioner starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. In reality, Parker is a somewhat revelatory title. Though on the surface it merely refers to its titular character, the naming of this film Parker acknowledges its connection to an entire series, with entries dotting the cinematic landscape of the last several decades. Parker is a character created by author Donald Westlake (who sometimes wrote as Richard Stark). A master criminal who lives by his own code of ethics, Parker often works with crews, and is usually betrayed by a member of his own team... sending him out on the hunt for revenge.
Many of Westlake’s novels centering on Parker have been adapted for the screen. So why isn’t Parker billed as a sequel? Or a remake? The fact is that each of the previous films adapted from Westlake’s Parker novels has changed the name of its antihero protagonist. It is therefore entirely possible that you have actually seen Parker ply his criminal trade on screen multiple times in the past, and been totally unaware of it. We thought we’d help you navigate this strange name game with a complete guide to Parker in film.
Point Blank (1967) - Parker’s alias: "Walker"
The first, and arguably best, adaptation of one of Westlake’s Parker stories was John Boorman’s Point Blank. The movie is a trailblazer in the neo-noir movement. It centers on the same basic crime story content as previous film noir, but with even grittier characters, bleaker themes, and an amplification of violence. In Point Blank, Parker is called Walker, and is played by the incomparable Lee Marvin. One of Point Blank’s greatest strengths is Marvin’s raw, powerful screen presence. When he occupies a scene, it’s a military occupation. The story is based on Westlake’s The Hunter, in which Parker is double-crossed and left for dead after a heist, and goes on a brutal, ceaseless tear to retrieve his money and get revenge. John Vernon as the villain and Boorman’s seething, unflinching tone are also paramount to Point Blank’s legacy as one of the absolute best crime films.
The Split (1968) - Parker’s alias: "McClain"
Though most cinematic incarnations of Parker portrayed him as a Caucasian male, Gordon Flemyng’s The Split showed us that this need not be the case. This time around, Parker was dubbed McCain, and was played by former NFL running back Jim Brown. Though Brown became an icon of the blaxploitation movement, The Split was released a couple of years prior to the inception of that subgenre, making his casting in the lead an even greater nod to his undeniable talent. His charisma and intimidating physicality serve him well as the leader of a gang of thieves who execute a daylight heist during a football game. The success however does not curb the subsequent paranoia and fallout between the crooks… especially when the loot is stolen. The Split, based on the novel The Seventh, is a bit less focused than Point Blank, but its supporting cast more than makes up for its inconsistencies. Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, Jack Klugman, and Donald Sutherland all appear.
The Outfit (1973) - Parker’s alias: "Macklin"
Robert Duvall would take up the mantle of Parker just a year after his Oscar-winning performance in The Godfather. In John Flynn’s The Outfit, based on Westlake’s novel of the same name, Parker takes the name Macklin. He finds out, after being released from prison, that his brother has been murdered by gangsters. The Outfit is interesting in that it’s the first iteration of a Parker story to touch upon the character’s family tree, the death of his brother offering new incentive for revenge. Though not quite as exciting as Point Blank or The Split, The Outfit is a glimpse into the bare-bones, pragmatic career-criminal grind. The relationship between Macklin and his friend Cody gives The Outfit much of its personality; Cody is played by southern-fried revenge film icon Joe Don Baker.
Payback (1999) - Parker’s alias: "Porter"
Most likely the filmic Parker with whom most people are best acquainted is Mel Gibson as Porter in Payback. Another adaptation of The Hunter, Brian Helgeland’s Payback is a stylistic throwback to the golden era of neo-noir. In fact, the cinematography casts a seemingly constant distinct blue hue over the entire film; almost a film navy more than a film noir. Payback is violent, funny, and irrepressibly cool. Gibson gives us an irrefutably bad guy, a thief and con man with no compunction toward taking lives, but one with so much swagger and charm that we can’t help but love him. Interesting to note with Payback is that Porter/Parker’s ultimate fate dramatically changes depending on whether you watch the theatrical or the director’s cut.
Those are the major entries into the nebulous Parker franchise, and all films well-worth delving into before watching Statham take on the role this weekend. For the sake of completionism, it should also be noted that Peter Coyote took on the role of Parker in the wholly underwhelming 1983 film Slayground. In that movie, Parker was called Stone. Also, Jean-Luc Goddard’s Made in USA is unofficially based on Westlake’s The Jugger; his Parker was a woman named Paula Nelson. [Photo Credit: Jack English/Film District]
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It's been a whole month — that's right, you heard me — a whole month since we last had a new episode of New Girl. So much has happened in that time. There was White Anglo Saxon Winter Privilege Night...Hanukkah...Moon Festival...the New Year. So many wonderful holidays we didn't get to spend with the people in our lives we love the most. No, not your real-life friends and loved ones — the fictitious Jess, Nick, Schmidt, Cece, and, okay sure, Winston.
But rejoice New Girl fans, the whole gang is back tonight and we can properly start 2013. If you're still nursing an office party hangover or blanked out from everything earlier than New Year's Eve, never fear, we're here to catch you back up to speed and jog your memory about how the show left off. Here's everything you need to know before the winter premiere of Season 2 of New Girl, you clowns.
Where We Left Off: After getting fired from her job, Jess (Zooey Deschanel) went and had herself a quarter-life crisis, one which included hooking up with a sexy doctor named Sam (David Walton). Though her feelings for him initially were stronger than his, Sam eventually came around and won Jess back on Christmas. Elsewhere, Nick (Jake Johnson) finished his wonderfully terrible zombie novel and started hooking up with a stripper named Angie (Olivia Munn) and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) tried to play coy around a newly-single Cece (Hannah Simeone). Oh, and Winston (Lamorne Morris) broke up with Shelby...and couldn't hear out of his ear for an episode.
Biggest Jaw-Dropper Of The Fall: Wait, Sam is back?! After Jess had all but sworn him and other men like him off for good, he showed up all kind and sensitive at Christmastime and professed his true feelings. That said, Sam has never been a consistent character. What started as a Creed-worshipping doofus who is only looking for hot hookups has evolved into a sweet, caring pediatrician who just wants to settle down with the right girl. Is Jess that right girl? We'll find out soon enough.
Biggest Let-Down Of The Fall: That New Girl started to venture dangerously out of smart, television for men and women and into anti-feminism territory thanks to outdated, offensive story lines about periods (they make women go crazy!) and ticking biological clocks. You're better than that, New Girl.
Most Improved Character: Nick Miller, Nick Miller, the illest of the iller. Okay, maybe Nick hasn't improved overall, as he's still aimlessly floating through life, his dead-end job, and dating the wrong people (c'mon, Angie isn't exactly marriage material) but Jake Johnson continues to prove himself as a comedic force to be reckoned with. Nick may not be improving at the moment, but he most closely resembles someone we all know in real life.
Least Improved Character: Schmidt and his total free fall into full-fledged douchebaggery. Look, don't get us wrong, we understand that Schmidt has been a douchebag all along. Hell, he's the very reason the Douchebag Jar was invented. But since breaking Cece's heart last year, Schmidt has turned from charming douchebag to near-sociopathic levels of mean. We realize it's just an act and he's really hurting deep down inside, but we were hoping for him to grow as a person just a little bit.
5 Reasons You Should Keep Watching: Nelson Franklin (who played Cece's ex Robbie) is going to return to shake things up; speaking of guest stars, ultra-hottie Brooklyn Decker is stopping by; Schmidt may be a douche, but he still pronounces things hilariously; Jake Johnson is totally killing it; and finally, Winston might do something.
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For many movie-goers, 2012's film slate hit close to home. Especially if they sat in theaters admiring cinema's best real estate of the year. Skyfall, The Hobbit, The Dark Knight Rises — many of the year's biggest blockbusters also boasted sprawling mansions that movie-goers would spend hours drooling over in their theater seats. But which films brought us the most — and least — coveted homes and properties of the year? Go ahead — make yourself at home and scroll down to find out!
Movie: The Hobbit
Property: Bag End
Location: Hobbiton, Middle Earth
Description: Nestled in the side of a Hobbiton hill, this cozy three-bedroom Hobbit hole is the perfect bachelor pad for lads preparing for their next unexpected journey.
Amenities: A fireplace fit for a pipe, a wine cellar, and a pantry big enough to feed 13 dwarves.
Price: The Baggins family wouldn't be quick to give it up — perhaps for an Arkenstone?
Movie: Skyfall
Property: The Bond Family's Skyfall Estate
Location: Scottish Highlands
Description: The perfect retreat for when you literally need to retreat from a deranged former colleague who’s trying to kill you and your boss.
Amenities: Long vacant — its owners were killed in a climbing accident — this is a fixer-upper to be sure. But it comes with substantial acreage, a car park for your Aston Martin, propane tanks for heating and the construction of makeshift bombs, a wall-length mirror, Reformation Era subterranean tunnels for a clandestine exit, a vintage hunting-rifle armory, and the services of a crusty old gamekeeper.
Price: By our calculations, a steal at £1.5 million
Movie: Beauty and the Beast 3D
Property: The Beast's Castle
Location: France
Description: This sprawling, private kingdom — built with Europe's finest golden materials — boasts a history as rich as the food served in the castle's fully staffed kitchen.
Amenities: Indoor landscaping (in the form of a mysterious, single rose), a large library to charm visitors, a 3D-friendly vast ballroom with high ceilings, and a roomy dungeon to host your future father-in-law.
Price: $47 million — otherwise known as Beauty and the Beast 3D's total box office cume.
Movie: The Dark Knight
Property: Wayne Manor
Location: Gotham City
Description: Escape Gotham's violent underground with this beautiful mansion, once home to billionaire Bruce Wayne and many exorbitant parties gone very, very wrong.
Amenities: A fully manicured lawn, a friendly butler who knows more about you than you know yourself, a subterranean cave for an undercover vigilante filled with technologically advanced weaponry a basement that leads nowhere.
Price: By our calculations, $46 million.
Movie: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Property: The Marigold Hotel
Location: India
Description: This charming hotel is happy to host retirees both enthusiastic about travel and extremely racist. Don't be distracted by its cracks — this property is perfect for anyone looking to invest in a fixer-upper!
Amenities: A thriving social scene for the elderly, local cuisine that will give your taste buds a bit too much of a kick.
Price: Whatever takes it off Sonny's hands!
Movie
: The Hunger Games
Property: The Capitol's Training Center
Location: The Capitol
Description: Right in the heart of Panem's Capitol, the Hunger Games' training center bristles with excitement. Be one of the first to scope out the Games' talent first-hand, and stay for a drink — if a tribute doesn't shoot it out of your hand first.
Amenities: On-location stylists and mentors, an underground gymnasium, an adjoining apartment complex filled with windows to longingly peer out of.
Price: Whatever it costs to overthrow President Snow. Courage?
Movie: The Queen of Versailles
Property: The mansion built by billionaires Jackie and David Siegel, also known as Versailles
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Description: This real-life 90,000-square foot mansion — the largest in the U.S. — is strictly for the 1 percent, offering more luxury than practicality. But that's okay, because you're rich! (Until, of course, you're not.)
Amenities: Two movie theaters, a bowling alley, nine kitchens, three swimming pools, a baseball diamond, a health spa, 30 bathrooms, and other luxury items that, yes, actually do exist in a real home.
Price: Considering its windows cost $4 million, you don't even want to know.
Movie: Wanderlust
Property: Elysium Bed and Breakfast
Location: Unknown
Description: The perfect rest stop for your long journey, Elysium offers peace and next to free love lodging for those who love Mother Earth.
Amenities: A breathtaking view of Jennifer Aniston's breasts.
Price: That's not the green stuff we care about, man.
Movie: Project X
Property: The Kub Home
Location: Pasadena, Calif.
Description: This comfortable family home is the optimal place to raise children who will one day take advantage of your trust and throw a raging party on the spacious lawn.
Amenities: A pool large enough to fit your car, a roof secure enough for dancing, rooms that can be converted into beer troughs, and a lawn gnome.
Price: Pales in comparison to what you'll pay in fire insurance.
Movie: Sinister
Property: The Oswalt Home
Location: Unknown
Description: In need of inspiration? Move into this home, perfect for those hoping for privacy to hunker down and work on their next project.
Amenities: A home entertainment center in the attic, a garage with a full set of sharp tools, unique wall art.
Price: Your life.
Movie: Paranormal Activity 4
Property: The Nelson Home
Location: Suburbia, USA
Description: Get to know the creepy neighbors in this delightful home filled with plenty of dark corners.
Amenities: Fully equipped wireless cameras, laptops, and other specter-revealing technology, a nearby tree house so inviting, even evil ghosts can't resist.
Price: Your life.
Movie: Cabin in the Woods
Property: A woodland cabin
Location: Unknown
Description: Looking for an isolated weekend getaway where no one can hear you scream for your four college friends? You're in luck! This cabin — located in the middle of the woods — is the perfect location for nights in with a case of beer and a family of zombies.
Amenities: A cellar full of charming, ancient trinkets. Look, but don't read.
Price: Your life.
Additional Reporting by Christian Blauvelt
[Image Credit: Warner Bros (2); Lauren Greenfield/Magnolia Pictures; Walt Disney; Lionsgate]
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